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June 9 at 8:16am ·

Many aspirants are asking me how to tackle the most dreaded subject called General Studies(GS) at home on their own. This
is how you can do it. I am formally putting it here under the notes of IAS Help...

For Prelims GS -

Start reading NCERT 8th to 12th in all subjects except English, Hindi, Accountancy and Business Studies. Make notes in
less than two months.. and keep reading newspaper(The Hindu only)... for Magazines you can look upto Yojana and
kurukshetra- to update your notes with the latest figures. Remember, for world geography in the prelims section read the old
ncert from class 6th to 12th. While reading geography always carry an atlas with you. Now which atlas to read? well, read
the article. it is given below!

This will be all for the prelim examination.. Prelims, in the new pattern of UPSC is not very tough. it could be cleared easily
through NCERT and reading newspapers only. How to read newspapers? check the bottom of the article.

GS for Main Examination-

For main you need to make up a mindset suitable for an IAS. You have to think like an IAS Officer. Not to criticize but to
find solutions to the problems.. for that you need to enlarge your knowledge base and study a bit deeply... you need to know
the real India. What I did personally recommend You to start by getting yourself along with the Gandhi's Talisman.

The book list goes as

1- Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth

2- Constitution of India (Bare-act) by P M Bakshi(Language will be different that is why Laxmikanth's Indian Polity should
be read along with it)
[{Introduction to the Constitution of India by D D Basu has come up with its 20th edition that includes upto 97th
amendment. This has made it a too good book. Still the hard language might trouble some of you. So, if you do get troubles
with its language then you can blindly go with Laxmkanth's book mentioned above. If however anyone wants to read it then
they should do in free time. leaving it alone will not trouble you at all!}]

3- Indian Economy by Dutt and Sundaram (Not full. Just go through the concepts and how it is affecting us now. After
reading you need to think over it a bit!)

4- Economic Survey by M/o Finance D/o Economic Affairs that can be downloaded online

5- Approach Paper to 12th Plan by Planning Commission can be downloaded online

6- India's Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra (Pearson Publication)

7- A Brief History of Modern India by Spectrum Publication

8- Science and Technology by Spectrum Publication or Tata McGraw Hill. (any one which suits you)

9- Oxford School Atlas - Indian Edition(should be used while reading Geography NCERT)

10- Cover up Budget from all the Magazines you come across during the Budget time.

11- India's Foreign Policy Since Independence by V P Dutt

12- India and the World Dynamics by Pearson Publication

13- India After Gandhi- The History of World's Largest Democracy by Ramachandra Guha

How to prepare Newspapers?

I would suggest you to go with the Hindu newspaper only, as most other newspapers are not up to the standards of the UPSC
and, moreover, they lack in one area or the another. Hindu has been the landmark for IAS aspirants from many decades. It is
advisable for you to go with it.
Now "how to study it?" is the biggest question!

Make a separate register to make notes from the newspaper. As you can see, many questions in mains were asked (as well as
prelims) on women, children, governmental acts and legislations etc. so divide your register in sections after analyzing the
question paper of Mains from "2010 - 2012" (division should be as per your convenience because every person is different
and which ever way you decide it will only be GS, so do not worry too much!) for example, this is how I made -

Children.
Population.
Women.
Senior Citizens.
Insurance.
Energy.
Biodiversity and Climate.
Science n Tech.
Economy. etc.

( the issues as you see appearing over a long time in newspaper.

you can read any magazine you like(Chronicle, Civil Services Times etc) but I would suggest you to follow newspapers only
and not the magazines as they have a limitation of paper. they cannot include every news which are important for IAS. What
they do is they cover the important issues of a month and provide you with some fact-bombing(which is not really required
in IAS in the new pattern) along with a beautifully carved out debate on that issue. The topics which they provide are dealt in
a comprehensive manner (you can get a lot more depth than magazines in Newspapers like The Hindu). But that happens
sometimes only. Even if they want to include every single detail they simply cannot do it as they have to arrange
advertisements as well accommodate for the low cost they charge from you.

Also if some of you would like to follow a good magazine they may follow- Frontline, Civil Services Times, Chronicle,
Economic and Political Weekly, Science Reporter, Geography and You.

If you have your own formula to study for GS then I would suggest you to stick to you own method. What you do is best for
you. This article is for those who have no idea on how to approach General Studies paper in Prelims and Mains.